That curiosity led me to graduate study at the University of Pennsylvania, where I trained under Dr. Martin Seligman and began researching the science of happiness, optimism, and human potential. I wanted to understand how we can engage honestly with challenge while still strengthening motivation, agency, and the capacity for positive change.



What my research has revealed is clear: optimism isn’t soft—it’s strategic. When the brain is trained to focus on strengths, meaning, and possibility, stress decreases, creativity expands, and performance improves.



Over the past decade and a half, I’ve continued this work with leaders, parents, and organizations including Google, Meta, American Express, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Bank of America—helping teams build mindsets that support both well-being and success.



This work is also personal. In my twenties, I experienced a season of depression that taught me happiness isn’t about having perfect circumstances—it’s about how we interpret and respond to them. Learning to tell a different internal story became the foundation for both my research and my life.



Today, as a working mom married to fellow positive psychology researcher Shawn Achor, I’m reminded daily that optimism isn’t a fixed trait. It’s a practice—one shaped by what we pay attention to, what we amplify, and what we choose to pass on.



My mission is simple: to share science that helps people see what’s possible. Because every one of us is broadcasting something. And when that signal is grounded in resilience and optimism, it doesn’t just change us—it changes the people and systems around us.